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In the seven-year old Interchange lawsuit (Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation case), a proposed settlement was announced on July 13, 2102, with an October 19, 2012 deadline to formally request approval from the court. If a preliminary approval is given at that time - a notice of the settlement will be sent to about 7 million U.S. merchants who accepted Visa or MasterCard credit cards since 2004. Then the judge overseeing the case must give a final approve before it can be implemented, which is not expected until the second half of 2013.

In the meantime, opposition to the settlement has grown claiming the settlement doesn’t do enough for merchants. Some trade groups have announced plans to fight the settlement in court. Both Target and Wal-Mart … more